According to agency Edelman Deportivo, one of the major obstacles to widespread electric-car adoption is commonly labelled “range anxiety,” or the fear that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination. So the effort aims to show how far a Renault can go in a single charge, by showing a car going where no other has gone before — by turning automobile into “author.”

The “Written by Zoe” promotes the Zoe, which has a 400km range. The brand obtained permission from the the estate of Jack Kerouac to write authorized fan fiction stories based on the themes and style of writing of his novel “On the Road” (which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year).

The “stories” are entirely composed through live driving data from Stockholm test drives in the Zoe, with the help of AI-technology. The idea is that, by analyzing “On The Road” and using the car’s internal and external sensor data to turn it into contextual storylines, the system writes unique stories for each driver.

We’re all pretty clued-up about the benefits to zero-emission driving these days. Not only do electric cars help to improve air quality, lower your SMR costs and bring a reduction in BIK tax bills, they also deliver huge savings by not relying on fuel.

According to many experts, we are now getting very close to mass adoption of electric cars here in the UK. But they’re still a niche choice for many fleets because higher P11D prices and anxieties over range remain key stumbling blocks.

A whole-life cost approach is essential and, as discussed in the previous pages, they have to be fit for purpose to provide enough savings to outweigh the initial cost. But technology is improving at a considerable rate and battery ranges are increasing with every update.

The Renault Zoe

Refreshed in 2016, now offers an official 250-mile range – the best the sector has to offer, Tesla aside.

According to the French carmaker, if you use the most efficient means possible, like charging at night, running a Zoe could cost as little as 2p per mile in warmer weather, rising to 3ppm when the nights draw in. As well as offering the best range of our four cars here, the Zoe is also the cheapest to buy with P11D prices starting as low as £18,440. Despite some disappointing residual values, which are a common theme for most electric cars currently, the Zoe is the cheapest per mile too, costing 52.9p.

Nissan Leaf

The biggest-selling electric car here in the UK by some margin, the Nissan Leaf also had a battery upgrade in 2016, which saw its range increase up to 155 miles.

Not only is the Leaf the most popular of our models here, it’s also the most practical, offering a 355-litre boot and the most interior space. The Nissan is also easy to drive and comfortable over longer distances.

BMW i3

First launched in 2013, the i3 not only marked the start of BMW’s EV model range, it also moved the game forwards considerably for electric car technology as a whole. It was a game-changer in every sense, and although it’s struggled to gain momentum in sales against its rivals, the i3 has remained one of the most desirable and technologically advanced electric cars on the market.

A battery update in 2016 doubled the car’s range to 195 miles officially on one charge, although the carmaker believes 125 miles is more realistic in real-world conditions, plus the i3 is also fitted with a new charging system that is 50% faster.

Hyundai IONIQ

The first car to be available in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric forms, the Ioniq moved Hyundai into new territory when the car was launched last year. It’s all part of the firm’s plans to have as many as 28 eco-friendly models on sale by 2020.

Arguably the most eye-catching of the four cars, the Ioniq also has one of the biggest boots, and its official 174-mile range is one of the best on offer here too. RVs, as we explained earlier, leave a lot to be desired for EVs in general; however, the Ioniq still manages to better both the Zoe and Leaf at 20.3%, and only the Renault is cheaper per mile for whole-life costs.

Renault signs partnership agreements with Sicily by Car and Enel, two prominent mobility players in Italy, to launch the Eco Tour di Sicilia

The first of its kind, the Eco Tour di Sicilia will showcase Sicily’s rich culture while protecting its environment by employing a fleet of 200 Renault ZOE

Renault today announced the signing of an exclusive partnership with Sicily by Car, a leading car rental company in Italy, and Enel, the country’s largest energy supplier, to roll out the Eco Tour di Sicilia. This initiative by Sicily by Car will make it possible to tour the whole of Sicily exclusively by electric car and will add 200 Renault ZOEs to Sicily by Car’s fleet.

The first of its kind in Italy and Europe, the Eco Tour di Sicilia aims to overcome the obstacles that hamper green mobility in Sicily, such as limited vehicle range or a lack of charging stations.

ZOE is currently the only mass-market electric car on the market to offer an NEDC range of 250 miles, equivalent to about 186 miles in real-world conditions. The eco-tour project will also deploy a network of charging stations on the island: up to 400 Enel chargers are to be installed in the region’s principal cities and along tourist itineraries. Residents will be able to use these public charging stations for their own electric vehicles. The opportunity to take a long road trip while enjoying regular access to charging points will bring unexplored freedom of movement to all-electric travel in both urban and rural settings.

Bernard Chrétien, CEO, Renault Italy said:

“By supporting e-mobility, we are enhancing and protecting the extraordinary natural, artistic and cultural heritage of which the Sicily region is such an excellent example.”

An electric vehicle is a zero-emissions[1] form of mobility and the ideal means of transport to fight the greenhouse effect responsible for global warming. Electric vehicles are also key to cleaner air and better health for city dwellers. And since they do not run on fossil fuels, they help drive the automobile industry’s energy transition.

UK-based Car Keys, a car shopping site focused on finding you a great deal on a new automobile, put out this rather amusing animated video that compared the range of 8 of the UK’s most popular electric cars.

It’s just like the original Zoe, but this version of Renault’s electric car goes on and on.

Portugal, Renault, and electric cars are becoming indivisibly linked in my mind. I test drove the Renault Fluence in Lisbon in November 2011, and then the Renault Zoe a few miles up the coast in March 2013. I liked both cars, but with effective touring ranges of around 80 miles, I’d be the first to admit they had their limitations.

The latest version of the Zoe, the Z.E. 40, is an attempt to address that limitation. While the 2013 model had a 22kWh battery, the 2017 incarnation packs nearly twice as much energy: 41kWh, to be precise, with a real-world range of about 190 miles.

Renault ZOE (image: Ars Technica)

Same-sized battery, twice the range

The increase in battery capacity is a pretty impressive achievement when you consider that the lithium-ion pack occupies the same space as the old unit and weighs only 15 kilos more.

Developed by LG Chem, the new battery has improved chemistry and a redesigned internal structure that has increased the active surface area within the cells by 10 percent. The individual cells are now also thicker and the empty space between them has been reduced. If that all sounds a bit vague, it’s because neither Renault or LG Chem are about to spill the really interesting technical beans.

Renault ZOE, Battery illustration (image: Renault)

The end result of fitting a higher-capacity battery is that the Zoe 40 has an NEDC-certified range of 250 miles or, as Renault freely admits, a real-world summer range of 186 miles. It reckons that figure drops to 124 miles in full-on winter running.

Fair weather notwithstanding I didn’t quite manage to hit that magic 186-mile range. On two long-distance runs that included a mix of high-speed motorway driving and energetic hustling along Portugal’s back roads, I managed to get 175 and 163 miles from two full charges.

The second run included a rapid approach into Lisbon along the A8 from Caldas da Rainha with my foot down and the Zoe bowling along at close to its maximum speed. The weather was mild during the test so the climate-control system was seldom needed, but a fair amount of night-time driving was involved. The Zoe’s headlights may be efficient but they are also dismal.

Considering that on both days of the test I found myself running behind schedule and was therefore driving in a manner that I’d politely describe as energetic, I was happy with those range numbers. Improving on them really wouldn’t have been difficult.

But as with all electric cars it’s the psychology of range that is as important as the actuality. Because each morning the Zoe 40 told me I had a minimum of around 180 miles of range rather than 90 I didn’t experience the kind of range anxiety induced by the original model.

Even when forced to double back in the middle of nowhere because of a flooded road, take a 15 mile detour, and drive down a rutted track in the pitch dark (satnavs and Portugal are not a stellar combination), my range-sphincter didn’t pucker.